Attachment for artist&#39;s palette



June 2, 1959 L. P. LAPINSKI 2,888,766

ATTACHMENT FOR ARTISTS PALETTE Filed July 25, 1956 IN V EN TOR.

Leonard J? Zapznshi/ BY 74km WQM ATTORNEYS United States Patent ATTACHMENT FOR ARTISTS PALETTE Leonard P. Lapinski, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

Application July 25, 1956, Serial No. 599,957

7 Claims. (Cl. 41-5) This invention relates to artists painting equipment, and more particularly to artists palettes or boards on which painting pigments are normally disposed for use.

It has been common practice over a period of many years for an artist to deposit the various pigments used in painting on a board or palette, mainly along the marginal portions thereof, and to mix and work the pigments thereon during the process of applying them to the canvas. However, with such a procedure, when the painting operation is for the time being completed, the coloring pigments and mixtures thereof must usually be removed from the palette and the latter cleaned, preparatory to the next painting operation or session. This is often wasteful of the pigments, and involves at times a tedious and time consuming operation.

In accordance with the present invention the above disadvantages and drawbacks of this prior painting procedure are obviated, and one object of the present invention is to provide a novel and improved attachment for an artists palette, on which the pigments may be deposited as required for the painting procedure, said attachment being readily removable from the palette and collapsible for storage, thereby to greatly simplify the cleaning of the palette.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved pigment-carrying attachment for an artists palette, which will provide a relatively large surface area to adequately hold a multiplicity of different colored pigments, such as may be required in the painting procedure.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide an irnproved attachment for an artists palette as above characterized, which when not in use requires but a small and compactly arranged space, as compared with the space it presents when the attachment is in operative position on the palette.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved palette attachment of the above type, which when collapsed and not in use, may be readily covered to form a small and compact unit while at the same time the pigments disposed on the attachment are not disturbed or smeared.

A feature of the invention resides in the provision of an improved palette attachment as above characterized, which is extremely simple and inexpensive to fabricate, yet convenient to use and eifective for the purpose desired.

Another feature of the invention resides in the provision of an improved palette attachment as above set forth, which is so inexpensive that it may be readily disposed of and replaced by a new or fresh attachment, without involving appreciable waste or expense.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved and novel attachment for an artists palette, which may be readily utilized by either left-handed or right-handed painters without requiring modification or adjustment.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the drawings accompanying this specification, similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts wherever possible in the several views, in which:

Figure 1 is a top or plan view of an artists palette having in place the improved pigment-carrying attachment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the attachment per se in extended or operative position.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the attachment per se in folded or collapsed position, ready for storage.

Fig. 4 is a perspective, exploded view of the attachment and cover therefor by which the pigments on the attachment may be protected against smearing when the device is not in use.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view showing details of a cooperable cover catch means on the attachment and cover.

Fig. 6 is a pattern drawing of the two main components making up the attachment.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a modified form of the invention.

Figs. 8 and 9 are plan views of folded attachments illustrating still other modifications of the invention.

Referring to Figs. 1-6, there is shown an artists palette 10 having a usual type of generally rectangular configuration, said palette being provided with a finger opening 11 and a shaped edge or periphery 12 by which it may be conveniently held in the hand.

In accordance with the present invention, I provide a novel and improved attachment for the palette 10, designated generally by the numeral 13, said attachment being adapted for securement to peripheral portions or edges of the palette to provide pigment-carrying surfaces overlying said peripheral portions. The attachment 13 comprises essentially two main components or leaves 14 and 15 which may be generally identical with each other but opposites in the sense of the left hand being opposite to the right hand. The leaf 14 has an upper fiat body portion 16 of elongate configuration including at one end a lateral extension 17 by which it has somewhat the shape of an L. The leaf 15 has a body portion- 18 provided with a similar lateral extension 19.

The leaves 14 and 15 may be formed of any suitable sheet material, as for example, metal, stiff paper board or paper, plastic or plastic-like material, and even wood.

Along their side peripheral portions, the leaves 16 and 18 are provided with pairs of spaced, integral, clamping portions or tabs 20, 21 and 22, 23, said tabs being carried by narrow, elongate, integral connector portions 24 and 25 respectively, the outlines of which are indicated by fold lines 26 and 27.

As seen in Fig. 2, the tabs 2023 and the connector portions 24, 25 are folded at right angles along the lines 26, 27, thereby to dispose the tabs 2023 below and in spaced relation with the body portions 16 and 18. The spacing between the body portions 16, 18 and the tabs 2023 is just suflicient to admit the edge or peripheral portions of the palette 10 and to provide a frictional fit therewith, whereby the leaves 14 and 15 may be frictionally retained on the palette.

In accordance with the invention, the leaves 14 and 15 are pivotally connected with each other, as by means of a small fastener or pivot member 34 passing through apertures and in the respective body portions 16 and 18. Thus the leaves 14 and 15 may be swung about the pivot 30 to occupy the extended, right-angular positions shown in Fig. 2 or the folded positions shown in Fig. 3, the latter position being for storage purposes and the right angular positions constituting the operative condition of the attachment, as when it is carried by the palette 10. The lateral extension of the leaf 14 is shown as overlying the extension of the leaf 15. and I provide on 3 the leaf 15 a stop shoulder 31 engageable with an edge portion 32 of the leaf 14 when the leaves are extended, to limit the extending movement and locate the leaves at right angles with respect to each other. A peripheral portion 33 of the leaf 14 is cut away to provide clearance for the stop'31.

Also, additional stops 35 and 36 are provided on the leaves 14 and 15 to be engaged when the leaves are folded together to the closed position shown in Fig. 3, thereby to prevent bypassing of one leaf by the other, which would result in the smearing of the pigments carried by the leaf 15.

i It will be readily understood that with the above construction the attachment 13 when extended may be clipped to the palette to overlie peripheral portions thereof, whereby the paint pigments may be deposited on the attachment instead of on the palette. When the painting operation is completed or finished for the time being, the attachment 13 is removed from the palette 10 and folded as shown in Fig. 3. Thus the pigments will not be on the palette 10, and this greatly simplifies and facilitates the cleaning of the palette.

For the purpose of protecting the pigments remaining on the attachment 13, a cover 38 is provided, having a shallow rectangular shape conforming to the folded configuration of the attachment. The front and rear panels 40 and 41 of the cover 38 are provided with cutouts 42 and 43 adapted to receive projections 44 and 45 on the attachment, thereby to retain the cover in place.

-Referring to Fig. 7, the body portions of the leaves 14a and a may have reversely curved or scalloped edge configurations 50, or they may have other suitable shapes or designs. For example, in Fig. 8 the leaves 14b and 15b are shown as having toothed edges 51, while in Fig. 9 the leaves 14c and 150 are shown as having crenelated edges 52;

It will be readily understood from the foregoing that, in accordance with the present invention, I have provided an extremely simple, economical and highly desirable attachment for an artists palette, which may be utilized to carry the pigments in place of these being deposited on the palette itself. The attachment greatly simplifies the operation of cleaning the palette after completion of the painting procedure, and the attachment may be folded to occupy a smaller, more compact space and the pigments thereon protected against smearing by the cover 38. The attachment thus makes for greater neatness and tidiness in the painting operation, eliminates waste of pigments, and greatly facilitates the cleaning-up procedure.

Variations and modifications may be made within the scope of the claims and portions of the improvements may be used without others. i

I claim:

1. An attachment for an artists palette, comprising a pair of fiat, relatively broad leaves adapted to carry pigments on their upper surfaces and to overlie peripheral portions of the palette; means pivotally connecting together end portions of the leaves to enable the latter to be angularly extended for use, or folded to occupy edge- Wise-disposed side-by-side positions whereby the upper, pigment-carrying surfaces remain exposed and uncovered, for storage; and means for removably attaching said leaves to the said peripheral portions of the paletee.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1 in which the leaves are substantially L-shaped and have rounded inside corners, and in which the pivot means comprises a member passing through the leaves adjacent the inside corners thereof.

3. The invention as defined in claim 1 in which there are stop means limiting the extending movements of the leaves to substantially right angular positions.

4. The invention as defined in claim 1 in which there are stop means limiting the collapsing movements of the leaves to positions substantially alongside each other.

5. The invention as defined in claim 1 in which there are projections on the leaves, and in which there is a cover adapted to enclose the faces of the leaves when the latter are folded, said cover having apertures receiving the said projections for retaining the leaves in place.

6. The invention as defined in claim 1 in which the means for releasably attaching the leaves comprises folded tabs integral therewith and underlying the leaves in spaced relation thereto.

7. The invention as defined in claim 6 in which there are two tabs integral with each leaf for attaching the leaf to the palette.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,745,202 Wood May 15, 1956 2,763,949 Suvada Sept. 25, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 2,598 Great Britain of 1865 34,411 Sweden Feb. 19, 1913 310,276 Germany Jan. 8, 1918 638,083 France Feb. 14, 1928 

